Cut sugar content, Hunt tells hospitality brands

The government has warned some of the biggest food chains trading in the UK, including McDonald’s, Pizza Express and Starbucks that they need to slash the amount of sugar in the dishes that they serve or offer their customers smaller desserts.

Representatives of more than 100 food companies attending a private meeting with Westminster Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recently were ordered to make their food and drink healthier or face being named and shamed.

The move comes as part of the government’s ongoing attempts to tackle the national obesity crisis, which Action on Sugar has warned could “bankrupt the NHS”.

The restaurants have been told to join supermarkets and food manufacturers in the fight against fatty foods.

“We can’t ignore the changing habits of consumers,” Hunt said recently. “This means that we expect the whole of the out-of-home sector – coffee shops, pubs and family restaurants, quick service restaurants, take-aways, cafes, contract caterers and mass catering suppliers – to step up and deliver on sugar reduction.”

Supermarkets and food companies have been asked to cut sugar in their key products by 20 per cent over the next five years.

And consumers will be able to check the progress of the companies on a special website.